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Joel Mathis

@joelmathis.bsky.social

2.2K followers 730 following 2.9K posts

Opinion at @kansascity.com and @kansas.com‬ Was in Philly once upon a time. Journalism will never love you back. Occasionally deactivate my account for a day or so to clear my head. https://joelmmathis.substack.com/

joelmmathis.substack.com

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · Aug 14

I'll try to make this the last time I tout my little project, but I wrote about our "Crockpot & Criterion" for the @kansascity.com opinion newsletter:

What we’re doing
Crockpot & Criterion: We’re told there’s an epidemic of loneliness in the country, so my wife and I are doing our bit to provide a cure: Every Monday night, we have a few friends over for dinner and a movie from the hoity-toity Criterion Channel streaming service. (Or not so hoity-toity: Last week we watched “Encounters of the Spooky Kind,” a 1980 kung fu vampire flick from Hong Kong.) Making community doesn’t have to be so difficult: Just figure out something you like to do and invite one other person to do it with you.

— Joel Mathis, regular opinion correspondent

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 25m

The new Jeff Tweedy album might be great or might not, but I can't tell because mostly it sounds like More Jeff Tweedy.

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 28m

Another way Donald Trump is hurting Kansans. (We're one of the top wind-producing states.) www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Trump’s Wind Energy Assault Stings Red States

The nation’s top four wind power states all lean Republican, including Iowa, where the president’s disdain is reverberating.

www.wsj.com

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 38m

Christian nationalism needs a lot more sackcloth and ashes.

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 38m

Plowed.

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 39m

That describes a vanishingly small number of migrants. What contempt he has for humanity. What a terrible witness for the Christ he proclaims.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1h

Mike Johnson: "If you're a young, pregnant American citizen women who shows up in an ER and you get treated and they pay the hospital less for treating you than some illegal rabble rouser who came in from some South American country to do us harm, that is wrong."

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 44m

That’ll bring in the donors.

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 1h

Sometimes - hear me out - I think the town feeds on sports drama.

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 1h

Love Philly, but also think it's hilarious that a 4-1 team that just won the Super Bowl is seemingly in the midst of crisis. www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...

Eagles stars downplay meeting amid recent woes

Eagles stars Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts confirmed they spoke with A.J. Brown earlier this week but dismissed the idea that the meeting was contentious.

www.espn.com

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 2h

I cannot read this word without hearing it in Michael Palin's voice.

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 2h

They're STILL making hay with Obama's "clinging to their guns" comment.

Stephen Robinson @playtyperguy.com · 2h

Republicans hammered Clinton on “deplorables.” They didn’t dismiss it as a distraction from health care policy.

They also hammered the issue long enough to force Dems to publicly disagree with Clinton over it.

Robyn Pennacchia @robynelyse.bsky.social · 19h

I've seen a few people question why these sorts of comments haven't hurt Miller, Trump, etc. the way "basket of deplorables" hurt Clinton.

And I think it's just because we expect them to say and do mean shit.

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 2h

Where does this chart originate?

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 13h

Thank you for bird-dogging it.

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 13h

Same artist at my local art museum, one of the most fun paintings ever.

Reposted by Joel Mathis

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 14h

And now for something completely different: 5 minutes of me being interviewed by the New York Post on the Insurrection Act and whether Trump will invoke it.

What is the Insurrection Act? And Will Trump Invoke it? We Asked an Expert

YouTube video by New York Post

www.youtube.com

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 14h

Wife and I talking about traveling to see her dad for Christmas “provided the country isn’t under martial law.“

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 15h

Thank you.

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 15h

Weird to me that the only videos I am seeing of the moment aee all fuzzy. Maybe real but …. I am cautious

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 15h

Is that Stephen Miller “plenary” video real? I can’t find good documentation of it.

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 16h

I feel like I’ve seen quite a bit about it actually. And I am old!

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 16h

I watched Donnie and Marie.

Jane Coaston @janecoaston.bsky.social · 16h

Laurence Olivier could have seen RuPaul perform.

rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 18h

you ever think about those real weird overlaps. like tennessee williams might have listened to the ramones

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 16h

Is @theatlantic.com down?

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 17h

The "lunatics, haters and punk trash" guy from One Battle After Another!

kottke.org @kottke.org · 17h

The trailer for Downey Wrote That, a documentary about long-time SNL writer Jim Downey. “Most of what makes us laugh is something that’s true, just you’ve never heard it put that way before.” (via @ironicsans.com) [youtube.com]

Downey Wrote That | Official Trailer | Peacock Original

Downey Wrote That is streaming October 17 on Peacock: https://pck.tv/45hBP6q Synopsis: “Downey Wrote That” is a documentary exploring the sketches, contributions and enduring influence of Jim Downey, one of the most impactful comedy writers in the history of “Saturday Night Live.” The hourlong film

www.youtube.com

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 17h

My wife and son also have ADHD.

Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 18h

Saw this on the big screen a couple of months back.

It really commits.

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Joel Mathis @joelmathis.bsky.social · 19h

Book 28 of 2025: #booksky simp.ly/p/MkzC5d

28: Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning, Peter Beinart (10/7/25) "The problem with our communal story is not that it acknowledges the crimes we have suffered. The problem is that it ignores the crimes we commit." This is true of a great many -- all? -- civilizational stories. It takes remarkable moral courage to insist on telling the stories of the crimes, and to keep asking in the face of opprobrium what can be do to end and remedy the harm.